Jones Settlement: Is That All There Is? By Richard Craig November 14, 1998

This week, a seven-year ordeal ended for Paula Jones with a settlement for $850,000. The Arkansas woman, who claimed to have been propositioned by then-Governor Bill Clinton in 1991, will at last no longer have to live with the notion that her refusal hurt her job prospects.

But is the ordeal really over? The settlement won't even begin to cover her legal bills, estimated at somewhere around $5 to $6 million. Jones will also never be far from the wandering eye of the media, regardless of where life takes her now. She is now world-famous, but fame has made her as much a target and a pawn as a heroine. It seems quite far removed from a simple life in Little Rock as just another state employee.

To quote a well-worn campaign slogan, is she better off now than she was seven years ago?

Jones actually did nothing about the incident, apart from telling a few friends, for almost three years after it allegedly happened. But when the conservative journal The American Spectator wrote in early 1994 that someone called "Paula" in Arkansas had engaged in a sexual relationship with now-President Clinton, Jones was suddenly besieged by reporters and anti-Clinton factions to tell her story.

Rightly or wrongly, the early involvement of rabid Clinton-bashers in her case gave the impression that Jones was a reluctant entrant into these shark-infested political waters. Friends insisted that Jones didn't have a political bone in her body and was content to let the incident go before the article ran and attorneys began appearing out of the woodwork.

When Jones finally told her story at a news conference, the scene was dominated not by her but by the anti-Clinton fervor of those running the event. When her lawyers negotiated with Clinton's team shortly thereafter, Jones seemed more interested in clearing her name for any sexual misconduct than in proving any point. But when push came to shove, the lawyers won out, and her sexual harassment lawsuit was filed just two days before the statute of limitations would have run out.

In the ensuing four years, Jones' life has been turned upside down. On one hand, she was seen as a hero by conservatives and some women's groups. On the other, she was ridiculed as "trailer trash" and branded as an opportunist in many media outlets. Most cruelly, she was mocked regularly by comedians, pundits and the general public for being physically unattractive. Perhaps not all women are sensitive about their looks, but to be razzed nationwide about her appearance day in and day out had to be emotionally exhausting.

Through a revolving parade of lawyers, Jones' lawsuit was upheld, thrown out, and revived again while she periodically showed up on TV talk shows to say her piece. While she was also roundly criticized for appearing inarticulate or confused on these shows, hindsight raises the question of just how much enthusiasm she really had for carrying this particular torch. It's easy to appear inarticulate, and hard to make a convincing argument to the American people, when you're apprehensive about what you're doing.

At last this week her legal nightmare came to a resolution with this settlement. But aside from the $850,000, what did Jones really gain from it? She received no apology whatsoever from the president -- no admission that any misconduct took place, indeed no admission that he had ever even met her. The president's lawyer was able to ultimately dismiss the case and say that Clinton didn't want to waste another minute on it, rather than having to admit wrongdoing as in the Monica Lewinsky matter.

Jones could have gotten a better deal than this four years ago, without the lawsuit, the negative publicity or the legal bills. Before the lawsuit was filed, the president was willing to make a statement clearing her of any sexual misconduct. She received more money than had been offered before, but with the legal bills and personal hassles she has endured during the last four years, this looks like a pretty bad trade-off.

The Clinton-bashers will now move on to other matters -- there is still plenty of ground left to scorch. But Jones is left to wonder what happened here. Who among us is prepared to suddenly become the poster child for a particular cause and give up all privacy for the foreseeable future? This is what apparently happened to Jones, and now she must deal with the consequences.

Between Clinton, Jones and the rabid right wing, exactly who hurt whom here?

©1998 Richard Craig. All rights reserved.